FOR PARENTS

If you're underage, you might want to show this section to your parents!

Dear parent,

The reason you are reading this is probably because your child loves K-Pop and asked you to buy something from Lianox.

While we cannot make the decision for you to buy or not to buy, we just want to give you some insight into the world of K-Pop and help you understand your child better!

K-Pop is the abbreviation for Korean Pop, as in pop music. You probably know the mainstream pop music that is playing over and over again on the radio. Your kid is a bit different - he or she doesn't (only) like the radio songs. He or she likes songs, sung in a foreign language by people from another ethnicity than his or her own.

It is not only the language making K-Pop so different from the usual pop music though. Depending where your family is from, South Korea might be miles and miles away - things in general are quite different there:In Korea, members of K-Pop groups are not only singers but also dancers. In Korean music business, you do not get "discovered" as it is quite common in the Western hemisphere. You worktowards your debut. Korean entertainment companies take young boys and girls under their wing to train them in singing, dancing, rapping, acting and much more. These training periods can last anywhere from 1 up to 10 years until a group is finally considered ready for the public. Some idols start as young as 13 to pursue this career. During these times, trainees are given harldy any free time - they need to give 100% every day all day while they live, work, and learn at these companies.

Many things that wouldn't be a big deal for Western superstars are extremely frowned upon in Korea. Scandals (and we are not talking about drug abuse here, but things such as secretly dating someone or saying something slightly inadequate!) can kill a K-Pop career in a heartbeat. K-Pop idols are public figures and watched with hawk eyes!

Why? The expression "K-Pop idol" says it all. They act as rolemodels for young people. Since K-Pop has become a worldwide phenomen, these young people looking up to them are not located exclusively in Korea anymore. Your child is probably one of them.

As you see, it is not only about adoring the glam and glitter of the "showbiz"... but also admiring the hard work that goes into everything K-Pop groups do, and acknowledging everything they have been through and go through on a daily basis. K-Pop fans want to support them.

Did you know that 9 out of 10 K-Pop fans develop an interest in Korean culture after being a K-Pop fan? Your child might be interested in Korean TV shows and watches them with English subtitles. When your family's mothertongue is not English, your child might be well on his or her way to becoming a superior speaker of English, all thanks to K-Pop. Maybe he or she even learns Korean, working hard to be able to go to a concert or even to Seoul, South Korea's capital, in the future.

Because of all these reasons, we would ask you not to discourage your child to be a K-Pop fan. Your child is aware of a huge cultural movement outside of his or her home country, and this is awesome! Open-mindedness should always be encouraged!

We would highly recommend parents to give K-Pop a listen or watch some music videos. The high production value will probably surprise you. :)

If you have concerns or questions about K-Pop or our store, feel free to send us an email at hello@lianox.com!